Syms' place

Syms Covington (c. 1816–1861)

On Sunday, I was pleased to see in the Sydney Morning Herald (my butler reads it) that the post office built by Syms Covington in the gold-rush town of Pambula, New South Wales is still standing, and in good working order.

Syms Covington was a cabin-boy aboard HMS Beagle. Sixteen months into the voyage, Darwin hired him as his servant, the arrangement lasting for the remainder of the voyage and beyond. In addition to more menial duties, Covington accompanied Darwin on a number of inland trips and assisted him in the collection and preparation of specimens.

On returning to England, Covington remained in Darwin's employ until 1839, when he emigrated to Australia. The two old shipmates continued to correspond intermittently until Covington's death in 1861. Covington had suffered from deafness from his youth and, on one occasion, Darwin posted him an ear-trumpet.

Syms Covington's Beagle journal is available online. His post office is now a Thai restaurant, named, rather pleasingly, Covington's Thai.

On 14 May 1856, Charles Darwin recorded in his journal that, on the advice of his friend Charles Lyell, after almost 20 years exploring the subject, he had finally begun writing a ‘sketch’ of his ideas on species.

To mark Charles Darwin’s 211th birthday, some thoughts on his 1871 classic, The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, an unlikely anecdote about a snail, plus all the usual book reviews and links to Darwin-related news stories.